Could Medicaid expansion fill Florida’s gap when ACA tax credits expire?
As Congress fights over the future of Affordable Care Act subsidies, the health care of millions of Floridians is on the line. An impasse between congressional Democrats and Republicans over extending the tax credits has resulted in a federal government shutdown, with seemingly little momentum toward a compromise. Florida could be the hardest-hit state when the tax credits expire at the end of the year, in part because the state has long refused to expand Medicaid. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Florida Trend Exclusive
Centralized care
Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s newest expansion houses a slew of breast cancer care services under one roof. Breast cancer ranks among Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s top five diagnoses. From 2020 to 2024, the facility’s analytic breast cancer caseload — or the number of breast cancer patients diagnosed and treated there, as opposed to those who started their treatments elsewhere — increased by 50%. Its breast cancer patients are also growing younger. [Source: Florida Trend]
Shutdown leaves gaps in states’ health data, possibly endangering lives
As the federal shutdown continues, states have been forced to fall back on their own resources to spot disease outbreaks — just as respiratory illness season begins. The pause leaves states with less early warning on disease outbreaks, potentially endangering lives even as child vaccination rates drop amid increased exemptions. State and local officials can combat outbreaks with targeted advice to get vaccinated and stay home when sick, but they need to know where to do that first. [Source: Florida Phoenix]
Florida medical marijuana business chills out: What the numbers tell us
A surge in the number of Florida marijuana patients after the 2019 legalization of smokable medical marijuana has subsided, according to a new report from the state's Office of Medical Marijuana Use. Bobbie Smith, the OMMU director, told the Health Professions and Programs Subcommittee on Oct. 15 that after recording three straight years of double-digit growth, the increase in new qualified patients the past two years has been 3%. [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]
South Florida doctors see rise in a hard-to-detect form of breast cancer
South Florida oncologists are seeing an alarming rise in a hard-to-detect breast cancer that is increasing at more than triple the rate of other breast cancers. Invasive lobular carcinoma, a subtype of breast cancer, concerns oncologists for several reasons: It doesn’t present as a lump the way the more common ductal carcinoma often is found, it is hard to spot on a mammogram, and it doesn’t respond well to chemotherapy. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Jacksonville reviewing $57 million permit for UF Health addition and expansion
The city of Jacksonville is reviewing a building-permit application for construction work on the Leon L. Haley, Jr., MD Emergency Department & Trauma Center at UF Health at an estimated project cost of almost $57 million. The center is named after the former CEO and dean of the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville who was known to have pushed to expand the region’s only Level One facility.
› Ascension Florida awarded $7.8 million grant to expand maternal telehealth
Ascension Florida will expand its telehealth services for pregnant people after the award of a $7.8 million grant from the Florida Department of Health. The program will be fully operational in early 2026, according to Ascension Florida chief clinical officer Dr. Syed Jafri. The health care system, expects to hire people this fall who will provide pregnant people with information about how to access lactation support and nutrition counseling as well as car seat installation training and stress management.
› Central Florida behavioral health program aims to protect teens
Health workers say they are hoping a program being implemented by Nemours Children's Health will help address teen suicides in Central Florida. In an age of rapidly changing technology, a 2023 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on youth behavior shows 20% of high school students who frequently use social media experienced feelings of hopelessness and seriously considered self-harm. But the Nemours health care system is making a push to try and catch the signs of trouble sooner in order to protect children’s mental health.
› Tampa General seeks to reduce $70.8 million negligence award
A Brandon woman awarded $70.8 million in damages after suffering permanent brain injury from a stroke could end up with a fraction of that because she was on Medicaid. Tampa General Hospital and medical staffing agency InPhyNet are asking circuit Judge Mark Wolfe to lower the medical negligence payout by $51 million, the portion of damages jurors awarded Chiaka Stewart for past and future “pain and suffering.” Their post-verdict motion cites a Florida law that limits non-economic damages to $300,000 for Medicaid recipients.